The Racket (1951)

A large Midwestern metropolis is drowning in corruption. An honest, incorruptible police captain (Robert Mitchum) is determined to bring down the crime boss (Robert Ryan) responsible for the venality but he's stymied at every corner by the rot that has infested both law enforcement and government. Based on a 1927 play (Edward G. Robinson played Ryan's part) by Bartlett Cormack which was previously made as a film in 1928 and directed by John Cromwell (THE GODDESS). This is a taut and frugal piece of film noir. Very few actors can be convincing in threatening Mitchum and making you believe they're a potent adversary but if any actor can, it's Robert Ryan. Their scenes together crackle. Lizabeth Scott is the film's femme fatale as a nightclub singer having an affair with Ryan's kid brother (Brett King) and as long as she playing the tough cookie, she's fine. But when she starts getting all sincere, her limitations as an actress are all to painfully obvious. A tough if (very) minor crime thriller but quite enjoyable. With William Talman, Ray Collins (who six years later would team up with Talman for TV's PERRY MASON), William Conrad, Robert Hutton, Don Porter, Virginia Huston, Joyce Mackenzie and Herb Vigran.